What Would You Do? A New Series on Vintage Revivals

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (That was angels singing if you couldn’t tell.) I have been rolling around this idea for a bit and I feel like I am FINALLY ready to share it with you guys!

As far as I can tell there are 2 problems that are frequently brought to my attention. 1. You guys are TALENTED. Lets be honest I am not the only one that likes to decorate, you guys are SO amazing it blows my mind. The problem? It needs to be shouted from the rooftops! And 2. Sometimes you run out of inspiration or just plain don’t know what to do with your latest thrift store score, dollar store find or those end tables from your Great Grandma Ida.

We are solving BOTH of those problems today with a brand new series called What Would YOU Do?

Here is how its going to work. Most Wednesdays (I say most because I don’t want to over commit myself toooo much.) I am going to share a find with you. It may be mine for the first little while but eventually I REALLY want you guys to submit your design dilemmas for this incredible ocean of décor savvy mamas for inspiration!

I want it to be SUPER interactive and fun (because decorating shouldn’t be stressful! Well…not TOO stressful.)

Then as the projects are completed I will post updates so everyone can see the killer before and after’s! Its like Fun-a-polooza!

So I will go first.

I scored this amazing vintage industrial rolling chair for $6.00 last night at the DI. I am loving all things industrial right now and I loved how it was still a little girlish (its perfect home is in Ivie’s room!) I have a few ideas for this cute thing but I want to hear what YOU would do to it! Share your ideas in the comments below and if you have overhauled something similar leave a link in the comments so we can all hop over and be inspired!! I will show you the transformation next Wednesday!!

Do you have a project that you need a little help with?? Tell us all about it! Send me an email with a few images and the important details and lets get this party started! (Single projects only right now, no room designs please) to vintagerevivalsblog (at) gmail.com with the subject line WWYD Submission.

Hooray! I cant wait to read these ideas!!!! Aaaaaannnnnnddddd GO!

ps. if you want a behind the scenes as its going down preview of my thrifty treasures make sure to follow me on Instagram (@vintagerevivals) I ALWAYS share what I am hunting!

51 Comments

I love the chair, and obviously you could mandilicious it up with spraypaint and upholstery. However Im looking at the bottom of that piece and thinking it could be the start to a totally epic industrial light fixture!

I think I would remove the back, spray the bottom an industrial grey, and add a distressed wood top to make it a side table. May be stencil some typeography (?) on the top for a little extra ‘liciousness!

Oh, I love her idea ^ so much more than mine, but I’ll share anyway. Before I read the light fixture comment, I would have gone with painting the bottom somewhere between powder blue and aqua with a fun punchy geometric fabric.

Love this new series!I think I would leave it chair, just because it is so cool. Maybe paint it in a really bright color and have the seat and back stainless steel or plexi glass or reupholster it in a (real or fake) sheep skin???

Im actually loving some industrial myself right now…….i scored 2 old desk lamps that hopefully ile be posting soon…I love the stool, it would make a great vanity bench, would also look good in the bathroom……cant wait to see what u do with it…..Bonnie

What is underneath that (ahem) beautiful upholstry job? Are the back and seat cool on their own? If they are metal like the frame, it would accentuate the industrialness to just strip it down to the bare bones and leave it. If it’s not, I like the finding some pretty thin wood for the back and seat idea. Or you could paint it turquoise and do a lucite back and seat. What a great find! Love the DI.

Amandelin 07.12.2012 at 15:26

What a gorgeous chair! I would spray the base gold and then age it with either wax or stain. And then I would go with a vibrant solid textured fabric for the upholstery–maybe a kelly green velvet? Or some tone-on-tone large-scale fuchsia?

A shiny lacquer in a bright color like tomato red with cow hide for the back and seat (brown cow hide not the white with black spots) would be my choice for it. Great score! She’s a beaut! Whatever you end up doing with her, she will be divine per your usual mandiliciousness.

I love the frame as is, maybe even distress it a little more. See what’s under the upholstery when you strip it down to the bones and see if that could be cool and functional, and if not, get some nice hardwood and cut it for a seat and back. Stain them dark walnut, always a great choice. Love the chair and what a STEAL!!

I’d go bright teal, because I always go bright! And choose a fun fabric to redo the top. Or, tear it apart and see what the base looks like. I bet if it’s wood under there you can do a fun stain and age it a bit. Like Ann Marie above said.

Is that picture somewhat true to color? I mean, is the base a super soft yellow? If so, I’d totally leave the base as-is (you can’t recreate that age if you wanted to) and do an animal print fabric. Not like cheetah or zebra… Hmm… this?

i’m thinking a heavy dose of color on the metal. im talking primary yellow. then either a faux leather (bc im cheap) or vinyl in crisp white to recover the back and seat. OR a totally obnixious bold print full of color. think free spirit or anna marie horner lines. great buy for $6.

I love this idea for a series! I say you paint the base a pretty gilver… my new favorite color or really shiny gold and do the seat white. Maybe even stencil the seat with a tribal print or something! I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

If you plan to put it with the butcher block desk and up against that tribal wall I would paint the metal gold and then recover it with a white fur. It would make for a nice statement piece without competing with the rest of the items in the room.

I have a few ideas.IDEA 1. Take the seat and back off. Repaint with a chrome-stainless hammered finish. Cut diamond plate and mount to top. Cut glass to cover diamond plate, drilling holes in the corners of both and joining the two together with acorn nuts, perhaps even brass acorn nuts with copper washers. Run conduit or PVC sprayed to match up the seatback brace and create a table lamp top. Use a rectangular shade in black or white. Even more industrial, take a galvanized bucket and drill a pattern into it allowing light to show through. For more filter. Use it as the shade by drilling a hole in the bottom of the bucket and attaching it to the lamp harp.

IDEA 2. REPAINT. Remove both seats. Replace the back with worn planks and stencil it with something you love. For the seat replace it with a metal tractor seat

IDEA 3. REPAINT. Create a design focal point. Build a lamp by using a motorcycle visor headlamp for the fixture, (just google those words if you don’t picture it.) Mount a shallow wooden box like you would use to pick berries to the base, cover it with a glass top. Place curios in the box under the glass for a personal collection piece.

IDEA 4. REPAINT. Remove seat. Repurpose back of chair by rewiring into a lamp. Make a table top where the seat would have been or use an old drawer turned upside down as the table top. You could use a drawer (not turned upside down but mounted to the base) for the tabletop base and slip a board over the top of the drawer instead of glass. Anchor the board to the drawer with L brackets. Route out place for Ipad style tablet to recess into the surface flush mount. Use it as a personal portable desktop or electronic game table.

Two things:I would remove the seat and back, add a large round disc (that goes under plants to catch the water), and use it for a portable plant stand. We are constantly moving our plants around, and it would be helpful to be able to adjust the height as well!OR…. here’s I what I REALLY want to do – add the plant disc things, attached to that would be a floor bracket for PVC pipe. On top of that I would add a PVC play stand for my parrot so she could be off the floor and down stairs with me.

OOh ooh! I wanna play! I would use paint stripper on the yellow frame and something suitably dingy on the upholstery like natural heavy linen or burlap with a stencilled industrial number on it! Cool idea. I recently had to turn to the girls who read my blog for a bit of advice!

Anonymous 09.12.2012 at 18:50

I love that chair. I would bring it back to it’s humble beginning. Strip the paint, nice wood seat or cover in some beat up old leather. Do I have to have a blog to submit a pic? I have an old, claw foot bench that I just can’t seem to make up my mind. Jamie Rowe

Anonymous 10.12.2012 at 05:06

This is SO much fun! I have been too influenced by the comments that I have no creative ideas of my own! I have a submission for you as well… but I need to wait a few weeks since if I was selected, I would kinda have to follow through on the assignment!

This is a great idea! I’d love to share some of my great fines I don’t know how to improve on. As for this chair, it needs to be painted hospital white with the brackets on the legs in red. Recover the seat in drop cloth with the red cross symbol stenciled on it. Remove the fabric on the back and stencil ‘First Aid’ in the Courier font to the metal surface. Would make a great ‘Miss Doctor’ chair for a youngin. Have fun.Cheers,Miss Ellie